Soft mat

ABSTRACT

A soft mat for use as a seat cushion, floor covering etc. comprising a plurality of longitudinal spaced bar members, a plurality of short parallel spaced rod means protruding transversely from each side of said bars, and short tubular or pipe means adapted to be loosely disposed around opposed rod means. Frame members are provided at the ends of said bar members.

1451 Nov. 12, 1974 SOFT MAT Hsiu-Ying Tu, No. 182, Shih Feng Rd., ChiaoTou Hsiang, Taiwan [76] Inventor:

Primary Examiner-Roy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner-William E. Lyddane[22] Filed: May 22, 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Millen, Raptes & WhiteABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 362,816

' A soft mat for use as a seat cushion, floor covering 5/344, 52/669[51] Int.

A47g 9/00 etc. comprising a plurality of longltudmal spaced bar 58 Fieldof Search 5/188 190 192 344- members a plurality Short Parallel Spaced15/215 216, 217 6 means protruding transversely from each side of saidbars, and short tubular or pipe means adapted to be loosely disposedaround opposed rod means. Frame [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS members are provided at the ends of said bar members.

118,952 9/1871 52/663 2,652,600 9/1953 Burke 52/660 X 3 C amps, 3Drawing Figures SOFT MAT BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION The presentinvention relates to a soft mat adapted for use as a cushion or a floorcovering and the like, and which is constructed or manufactured from asynthetic resin or rubber material.

Various kinds of mats are now available and used, however, most of themare complicated in their structure, and therefore the production thereofrequires extensive time and labor. Furthermore, the mats are, ingeneral, unsatisfactory for various reasons such as being easilycontaminated, difficult to clean, and can easily become weakened intheir structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a softmat of syn- I thetic resin material, rubbery material and the like,which comprises a plurality of longitudinal parallel spaced bar members,a plurality of short parallel spaced rod means protruding atpredetermined intevals from each side of said bars, and short tubular orpipe means adapted to be loosely disposed around opposed rod means andextending between adjacent bar members. Frame members are provided ateach end of said bars. The frame and bar members are comprised of aflexible material having a suitable desired softness such as a softpolyvinylchloride or similar suitable rubber material. The short tubularor pipe members are comprised of a comparatively harder plasticmaterial, bamboo and the like. I

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a soft mat foruse as a cushion, floor covering, and the like which is simple inconstruction, easilymanufactured or produced, and has good airpermeability.

Other objects and features will be apparent from the followingdescription of one practical embodiment of the invention with referencesto the accompanying drawings' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS DETAILEDDESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring to the drawings, the soft mat ofthe invention comprises as indicated by numeral 1 generally an outerframe, a plurality of longitudinal parallel bars 2, and a plurality ofparallel transverse pipes 3.

Frame 1 can have a square or rectangular shape and consists of fourframe members 11A, 11B, 12A, and 128. The plurality of parallel bars 2are provided with a series of transverse rods 4 (Figure 2) at spacedintevals thereof. The rods 4 are disposed on and extend symmetricallyfrom both sides of the bars 2. The rods 4 can be round, square or of anysuitable desired cononly one series of protruding rods 4, i.e., on theinward side thereof. Frames 11A and 11B are provided at each end thereofwith end flange members such as 13A and 13B respectively. The flanges13A and 13B are adapted to be inserted in grooves 14A and 148, in framemembers 12A and 128, respectively. Both the grooves and flange membersare provided with holes, which can be aligned for insertion of afastening means 15 such as a rivet, pih or the likelfor tightlyconnectingthe bars and frames. Similarly, flange members 21 are providedat each end of the plurality of bars 2 for connecting the bars in spacedrelationship in grooves 14A and 14B of frames 12A and 12B, respectively,by the fastening means 15.

The above described simplified construction provides a flexible soft matwhich is rugged in use and which is easily produced and has good airpermeability. The softness of the mat is provided by the bars 2 andframes 11 and 12 whereas the tubular members or pipes 3, being of arelatively harder plastic material provide a desired rigidity to the matwhen used as a floor covering or cushion.

The embodiment as mentioned above is only for illustrating thisinvention and not for limitation. Many modifications or variations maybe made within the scope of the present invention to constitute a mathaving the analogous appearance and the same efficacy and therefore theyare contemplated to be included within the tending from each side ofsaid bar members at spaced intervals therealong and siad opposed rodmembers being aligned between adjacent bar members, tubular membersdisposed on said opposed rod members and extending between said adjacentbar members, flange members disposed at the ends of said bar members,said flange members being secured within grooves in said frame byfastening means.

2.The flexible mat of claim 1 wherein said frame is rectangular, whereinsaid frame comprises two oppositely disposed grooved frame membersconnected at each end to two oppositely disposed bar members having' rodmembers extending inwardly only from one side, and wherein saidfastening means is a rivet.

3. The flexible mat of claim 1 wherein said frame and bar members are aflexible, soft material and said tubular members are a relatively hardermaterial.

1. A flexible mat comprising an outer peripheral frame, a plurality ofparallel longitudinal bar members, a series of short transverse opposedrod members extending from each side of said bar members at spacedintervals therealong and siad opposed rod members being aligned betweenadjacent bar members, tubular members disposed on said opposed rodmembers and extending between said adjacent bar members, flange membersdisposed at the ends of said bar members, said flange members beingsecured within grooves in said frame by fastening means.
 2. The flexiblemat of claim 1 wherein said frame is rectangular, wherein said framecomprises two oppositely disposed grooved frame members connected ateach end to two oppositely disposed bar members having rod membersextending inwardly only from one side, and wherein said fastening meansis a rivet.
 3. The flexible mat of claim 1 wherein said frame and barmembers are a flexible, soft material and said tubular members are arelatively harder material.